The invention relates to a rigid frame structure having a tensioned fabric membrane covering such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,634, issued March 25, 1975. The unitary membrane covering disclosed in said patent has numerous disadvantages in fabrication, transportation and installation due to its bulk and weight.
Extensive floor space is required to lay out and join the membrane sections into the required unitary configuration. Packaging and shipping is difficult and expensive, and erection of such a large unitary membrane is a laborious and difficult operation requiring special equipment and accessibility to the building site.
A defect or damage in the membrane requires a major repair job, and often replacement of the entire unitary covering resulting in exposure of the building contents and excessive expense.
Another difficulty with the unitary membrane covering is that extreme uplift loads tend to stretch the fabric sufficiently to bridge over an intermediate truss between two bays resulting in unduly high and damaging loads on the fabric membrane.